leaving cert french sport essay

• February 20, 2024

Sample Answer for French Leaving Cert Paper: Opinion Piece

For your exam, you should be able to write 75-100 words on a wide range of topics. Your piece should stick closely to the topic and contain a minimum of grammatical errors. Today, we will examine  sample answer for the French Leaving Cert paper opinion piece. 

As a general guideline, you should state your position clearly in the first sentence. Follow on with three clear points in three separate paragraphs.

Begin perhaps with a general statement or point and then move on to a more personal point.

• Do not learn passages off by heart. You will not be rewarded for this.
• Keep your sentences simple.
• Read the questions several times and make sure that you understand everything that is required of you.
• When answering, go straight to the point.
• Under no circumstances should you repeat the title in your answer.
• Relevance is crucial. Detail each point in a chronological and logical manner.
• Avoid clichés.

Sentences to help

To give your point of view:

To present your arguments:

To conclude:

Sample Answer

Topic: aller à la fac – comment survivre 2023 french leaving cert paper..

Donnez votre réaction. (75 mots environ)

Tout d’abord , je dirais que pour survivre à l’université, il faut suivre quelques règles élémentaires de base pour avoir une vie quotidienne saine. Pour commencer , avoir une bonne alimentation équilibrée est primordial. Même s’il est difficile de résister aux tentations diverses de malbouffe pas chère, il est important de faire attention à soi.

Par ailleurs , il faut pratiquer un sport, quel qu’il soit, régulièrement. Par exemple , aller à la salle de sport deux voire trois fois par semaine est un bon moyen pour se détendre et ne pas penser au stress des études et des examens.

Aussi , trouver un logement n’est pas si facile de nos jours. Il faut donc s’y prendre à l’avance pour avoir le plus d’opportunités possible et ne pas se retrouver le bec dans l’eau le jour de la rentrée.

D’autre part , je dirais qu’avoir un bon cercle d’amis sur qui l’on peut compter est très important pour la santé mentale. C’est avec eux que nous évacuons les angoisses de la vie en discutant, en s’amusant, en pensant à autre chose.

Pour conclure , je dois dire que selon moi, être capable de profiter du temps passé à la Fac, dépend de tous ces facteurs exposés ci-dessus.

In conclusion, mastering the opinion piece for the French Leaving Cert paper requires adherence to specific guidelines and strategies. Remember to express your viewpoint clearly from the beginning, followed by your supporting arguments. Take the time to thoroughly understand the question and respond directly to its requirements and maintain relevance throughout your response.

We hope these guidelines and tips help you to feel better equipped to excel the exam. And if youre looking for even more guidance and preparation for the Leaving Cert, our French Courses are an excellent resource, and remember… practice makes perfect!

Happy studying from the ELC Team!

Related posts:.

• Prepare your French Leaving Cert!
• ELC and Languages Connect Competition
• Vocabulary for the French Leaving Cert Written Exam Section
• Dialogue Construction in the Spanish Leaving Certificate

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Leaving Cert Notes

Notes and anki decks for the leaving cert, opinion question.

An opinion question is where we give our opinion on a subject.

In you leaving certificate Higher level French exam, you will be required to write at least one opinion piece. The first will be based on the comprehensions that you will have read.

You are required to write between 70 and 90 words in french.

It is marked out of 30

• 15 marks for structures and grammar
• 15 marks for language

More Details:

• Written production (100 marks), candidates will be required to answer TWO questions.
• Question 1 is still compulsory and uses the reading comprehensions as a springboard
• Candidates will now have three options. Answer (a) or (b) or (c) - 60 marks (90 words approx.)
• Candidates answer one other question from questions 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 - 40 marks (75 words approx. For these you will either, write another opinion piece or a journal entry

Structuring an opinion piece

• Start by giving your opinion
• Introduce your first point = Tout d’abord (first of all) - 4-5 sentences
• Use words like ensuite (then) and deuxiemement (secondly) + point no.2 - about 3 or 4 sentences
• Quant à moi (as for myself) / personellement (personally) + give your personal experience of this topic, if relevant (as for me ….)
• Give your conclusion which may include a solution, En conclusion (to conclude) / afin de conclure (As to conclude) + conclusion
• Try to include a relevant idiom or proverb

Making a Plan

Once you have come up with a general idea of what the question is about, you can start by laying out a plan. It’s important that you break up your plan into three different parts.

• L’introduction (The introduction)
• Le corps (The body)
• La conclusion (The conclusion)

You should use the extra pages at the end of your exam paper to plan for this - This will give you space to jot down some ideas and it demonstrates strong exam technique to the examiner.

Below you will find some phrases to use in your opinion piece. They have been divided into the three sections for this piece. Even if you don’t fully understand the question or have an opinion on the topic you’ve selected, the more of these phrases you can use, the better you will do!

L’introduction (The Introduction)

This is the start of your opinion piece - Try to use two of these phrases together. E.g. Je suis tout à fait f’accord avec cet affirmation, on entend souvent parler de ce sujet.

Le Corps (The Body)

Developing your argument.

This is where you look to develop your argument. Use these phrases but also link them to your own thoughts about the argument

Offering a Solution

N.B. - You don’t need to know all of these phrases, however, it’s important to have a few of them that you can use universally in each opinion piece. Pick 5-8 that you think could be useful

La Conclusion (The Conclusion) - Concluding Your Argument

Opinion question structuring phrases, argumentative phrases, opinion question sample answers, le sport dans la vie des ados (sport in the life of teenagers).

Pensez-vous que le sport est important pour les adolescents?

A mon avis, le sport est absolument essentiel pour les adolsecents. Je suis tout à fait pour le sport dans la vie des jeunes. Tout d’abord, le sport est un bon moyen de se décontractrer. De nos jours, les éleves de lycée sont très stresses, surtout pendant la période des examens. Les activitiés sportives aident les éleves a s’échapper de la stresse et de l’inquiet des examens.

De plus, le sport est un bon moyen de recontrer des nouveaux amis, surtout si on pratique un sport d’équipe. D’après plusiers études, il y a un fort lien entre le sport et le bonheur des adolescent et la camaraderie joue un grand role dans ces études.

En bref, les activités sportives sont essentiels dans la vie des jeunes pour qu’ils soient contents.

Interdire les téléphones portables dans les écoles irlandaises (Banning Phones in Irish Schools)

À partir de septembre 2018, par ordre du ministre de l’Éducation nationale, les téléphones portables seront interdits dans toutes les écoles de France.

Faut-il interdire les téléphones portables dans les écoles irlandaises?

Answer (Given By a Student)

Est-ce qu’il faut interdire les téléphones portables dans les écoles irlandaises? A mon avis, Il est essentiel que les téléphones portables soient interdits dans nos écoles. Tout d’abord, les portables sont une grande distraction et les jeunes manquent de la concentration a cause des notifications envoyées par les applis toutes les cinq minutes.

Bien sur que les portable sont très utiles pour garder le contact avec les autres. Pourtant, on a vu dans les années récentes que la technologie est tellement addictive. C’est évident que le gouvernement doit faire quelque chose pour lutter contre ce problème.

Parents Irlandais Stricts (Strict Irish Parents)

Selon la Section 1, Q2, George semble être un père très strict, ce qui était plutôt normal dans les années 60.

A votre avis, est-ce que les parents en Irlande aujourd’hui donnent trop de liberté à leurs enfants?

Je pense partager l’avis de beaucoup en disant que les parents, de nos hours en Irlande, ont tendance à donner probablement trop de liberté à leurs enfants. La question qu’il faut alors se poser est de savoir si c’est un bien ou un mal …

Au siècle dernier, comme le disent si souvent mes parents, un enfant « ça ne s’entendait pas », il obéissait sans poser de questions que ce soit en classe ou à la maison. Les choses ont énormément changé et on pourrait mème dire qu’elles sont passées d’un extrême à un autre!

Certains affirment que les parents, qui la plupart du temps, travaillent en dehors de la maison, n’ont plus le temps de discipliner leurs enfants et recherchent une vie facile en les laissant faire plus ou moins ce qu’ils veulent, Donc, ils sortent, ils ne font pas leurs devoirs, ils passent des heures sur Internet et j’en passe … D’autres prétendent que les parents ont finalement compris que l’interdiction ne marchait pas aussi bien que la discussion et qu’une bonne relation familiale était basée sur la négociation. Soit. Personnellement, je pense que les jeunes, à qui on donne de la liberté, apprennent plus vite à gérer leur indépendance, néanmoins j’estime qu’il est toujours important que les parents leur imposent des limites pourvu qu’elles soient raisonnables et consistantes. Ce qui compte, d’après moi, c’est que les enfants et les aos puissent communiquer avec leurs parents, tout en sachant qu’ils doivent les respecter. Je dirai donc pour conclure qu’il faut avoir un équilibre entre la compréhension et la discipline. Alors, pour répondre à la question posée, oui, je pense que parfois les parents donnent trop de liberté alors que l’enfant a besoin de repères et donc de règles pour apprendre à vivre en communauté.

SimpleStudy® Subject Guides

The Leaving Certificate French exam is a significant academic challenge for Irish students. This article provides a comprehensive strategy for achieving a H1 in the Leaving Cert French Exam.

To excel in your Leaving Cert French exam, you must first understand the exam format. The French exam comprises both written and oral components.

The Leaving Cert French oral exam can be daunting, but regular practice is the key to success. Developing fluency and ease in speaking French is essential to secure a good mark. Avoid last-minute cramming. Dedicate 15 minutes each day to practice. Choose a topic, such as family, school, hobbies, and challenge yourself to speak about it as long as possible. Practice speaking aloud to work on pronunciation. Record yourself and listen to identify areas that need improvement.

Leaving Cert French Vocabulary: Daily Reading

Securing a H1 in Leaving Cert French requires dedication and consistent practice. By following the strategies and tips outlined in this article, you'll be well-prepared to excel in your examination. Building fluency, expanding vocabulary, and mastering comprehension will set you on the path to success. With focused effort and daily practice, achieving that H1 in Leaving Cert French is well within your reach. Bonne chance in your exam!

Leaving Certificate French Predictions 2024 (Higher Level)

Updated December 2023

● As with all subjects, it is impossible to accurately predict what styles of question and topics will come up on the French Higher level paper

You may also like:  Complete Guide to Leaving Cert French  or  French in 90 words opinion piece collection  (€)

Please be aware of the amendments made to the exams this year.

1. Paper structure

• In this section, there are six questions.
• You must answer 2 questions from this section
• Question 1 is compulsory, and you must answer one of the parts (a, OR b OR c)
• You then must choose ONE other question to do; either question 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6

○ Question 1

Question 1 is related to the contents of the reading comprehension texts and is usually a choice between a 90-word opinion piece and a récit (narrative)

Hint: If you are ever in doubt as to whether the question is asking you for an opinion piece or a narrative (récit), remember that the ‘récit’ question is always followed by this italicised statement: ‘ Votre récit peut être réel ou imaginaire’

○ ​Question 2

Question 2 is a functional writing question, with a choice between any of two of the following:

○ ​Questions 3, 4, 5 and 6

Q3 and 4 are usually opinion pieces that deal with topical subjects, which will be examined below

2. Predictions for topics for Opinion Pieces

○ 2022: future career, young adults + financial support , replacing the Leaving Cert with continuous assessments, the importance of sport in daily life, welcoming migrants in Europe

● Generally speaking, there is usually at least one question, if not more, related to current events – below are ten topics that may come up as a result of the main events of the past year 

• Others questions linked to this might include questions about working from home, technology), science or socialising, the health system in Ireland and abroad
• The education system has been talked about a lot lately, with many looking for changes to be made
• The ongoing war in Ukraine, as well as the conflict between Israel and Palestine, could influence a question about conflict and war
• Violence could come up in the form of either gun violence, terrorism, or violence/rioting in Ireland
• Technology, the media and social networks are popular topics, especially with the rise of AI, influence of apps like Tiktok, and the newly rebranded ‘X’ (formerly Twitter)
• Homelessness and the housing crisis have been big topics both in Ireland, and in France, where huge numbers of immigrants are currently homeless. The housing crisis came up in 2020 but as it is such a topic of interest at the moment, it could easily come up again
• Extreme weather conditions may come up on its own, or may influence a question about the environment and climate change. We’ve seen a lot of storms hitting Ireland in the past year, with some causing damage to houses – so you could link this with homelessness too
• The environment hasn’t come up since 2019, however climate change and global warming are still very topical with activists such as Greta Thunberg still heavily fighting with world leaders for change. Also note the landmark decision made at COP28 in December 2023 to transition away from fossil fuels
• The cost of living crisis/inflation has been a big topic in the news lately. This could be linked with points such as homelessness, poverty or emigration
• The benefits of sport for positive mental health as well as physical health are becoming more and more prominent in today’s society. Also note the recent push to highlight female athletes in sports (e.g. Women’s World Cup, etc.)
• A variety of political scandals might influence a question about politics in Ireland and the decade of centenaries might influence questions about education, history, conflict and peace

3. What to revise

■ Argumentation, logical connectors, expressions of emotions (especially for the diary entry question ‘le journal intime), adjectives to describe things as good and bad

○ Learn general phrases that can be used in all of your opinion pieces, particularly for the opening and closing ; use introductory phrases such as ‘Je suis tout à fait d’accord avec cet énoncé’ (I totally agree with this statement), ‘Je suis contre cette opinion’ (I am against this opinion) and closing phrases such as ‘Pour conclurai’ (to conclude/ in conclusion)

● For the Journal Intime it can be useful to have a general introduction and conclusion prepared, e.g. ‘Cher Journal, Quelle journée _  je viens d’avoir…’/ ‘Alors c’est tout pour ce soir…’

• Post author: Martina
• Post published: August 29, 2020
• Post category: French / Predictions

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Leaving cert economics predictions 2024 (higher level), leaving cert french: science sample answer, diary entry sample answer: vacances dans un camping (2016).

How to get a H1 in Leaving Cert French

Eimear got a H1 in Leaving Cert French and in this guide, she shares her advice on succeeding in this subject.

Introduction

French is a subject that many people struggle with for the Leaving Cert. I think a lot of people find it hard to get a grasp on a foreign language which is very understandable due to the new words, new grammar, new rules, etc. Hopefully, this guide will make your life a little easier when studying French and help you become more prepared for the exam come June.

The oral exam

The oral exam is worth 25% of your overall mark and is marked out of 100. If you’re anything like me, the idea of speaking this unfamiliar language to an expert is quite daunting but they’re not there to intimidate you and everyone gets through it in the end. Just remember that you’re not the first and you won’t be the last student to feel nervous about an exam (you’re not alone and you will be fine). Here's some useful information and tips for the oral:

Starting off

The exam begins when the examiner calls you in and starts the tape. When you walk in, I would recommend greeting the examiner by saying something like "Bonjour Madame/Monsieur, comment allez-vous?". They will appreciate kindness and respect. They will generally start off by asking some simple questions about you, your family, where you live, etc. so have your answers for this prepared and learned off if you can because they are easy marks to get. 

General topics

From there, the examiner will have a normal conversation with you about a range of general topics such as school, your pastimes, your friends, your plans for next year, etc. Sometimes, depending on how they judge your capability, they can lead on to a harder subject such as alcohol, drugs or politics. Don’t freak out if this happens because it’s their way of seeing if you’re as good as they think, so prove them right. Always have something prepared for all the likely topics so you won’t be left speechless. 

Weak topics

If you know you’re weak at one topic, try to avoid it by making sure you don’t say anything that leads to that subject. For example, if you hate talking about alcohol but the examiner asks you what you did for your 18th birthday, don’t say that you went out to nightclubs with your friends as this could lead to a question like, "buvez-vous?". 

Lead the conversation

Try to lead the conversation. If you know one topic really well and have a lot to say about it, keep talking about it as it shows competency. Also, try to have some impressive vocabulary learned for that topic if you know you’re likely to talk about it. If the examiner asks you a question on something you’re not too confident with, change it to suit yourself. For example, if you hate books but love sports and the examiner asks you "Aimez-vous des livres?", you could say "Non, ça ne m’interesse pas, mais j’adore le sport…" and so on. Your ability to control and continue the conversation with fluidity will gain you a lot of extra marks. 

Useful phrases

If the examiner asks you something you’re unsure of, there are several sentences that you could learn to accommodate for this. For example, the "ça ne m’interesse pas" example I used above or "je ne sais pas beaucoup au sujet de...". If he/she asks you something you don’t understand you will not lose marks for not understanding so merely say, "Desolée. Pouvez-vous repeter la question si vous plait?" and they will rephrase the question in an easier way for you.

Bringing a document

Some students choose to bring in a document with them which, if they do, takes up about 5 minutes of the conversation. If you are undecided about whether to do one or not, I recommend doing one. It’s something that you can be almost 100% prepared for and you’re guaranteed to spend a good portion of the exam on it. As long as it is in French, the document can be one of lots of things, like:

A newspaper clipping/heading

Try to have it on a topic that the examiner won’t be seeing all the time from other students such as homelessness, poverty, sports, etc. They will have seen a lot of these and therefore may want to change things up by asking you strange questions. If you do it on an obscure subject, however, there’s a good chance that they’ll just ask you general, easy questions on it because they won’t have seen anything like it before.

Where the marks go

Regarding how the exam is marked out, it’s divided into 4 sections:

In order to gain high marks here, you should make sure not to fall into common traps that students make when speaking French. For example, many students lose marks for pronouncing 'trop' as ‘trohp’ instead of ‘troh’. Know how the language is meant to be spoken and how different letters are meant to sound. I think the exam is about being dramatic and theatrical so don’t feel embarrassed about putting on a French accent or using little French filler words like ‘alors’ or ‘eh bien’.

Vocabulary is very important and like I said earlier, learn some impressive words for the topics which you’re confident you will be asked on so that you can show off your ability to the examiner. This especially goes for those doing the document.

Structure refers to grammar. I know your mind can go blank in the exam but try your best to use the right tense when speaking to the examiner. He/she will probably try to test you on the past/present/future/conditional tense so listen carefully to the question asked so you can distinguish which tense you should be giving your answer in. Try to perfect your other grammar points too such as the right prepositions and the right adjectives, etc.

Communication is the fluidity of your speaking and how well you can keep up the conversation, so keep talking. A lull in the conversation will show incompetency so do your best to avoid silences.

All in all, the time flies in the oral and before you know it, the examiner will be saying, "Merci, vous êtes fini" and you may leave and you can breathe a sigh of relief.

The aural exam

This part is worth 80 marks and has 5 different sections. Like in the Irish aural, the sections are comprised of interviews, conversations and news pieces. Here's some advice for this section: 

Highlight keywords

You’ll get time to read through the questions before the tape starts so if I were you, I’d highlight the keywords in each question and make sure you know what they’re looking for. If you see a word in the question that you know the French word for, write the word above it so that you know to listen out for that word in the tape.

Writing down your answers

I recommend writing out only keywords in your answer when you first hear the tape and then coming back to it when you have time to fill in the rest of the answer because you may miss out on another question while you are writing out another answer.

Don't leave anything blank

If you haven’t a clue what the answer should be to a question but you did understand a word or two in the sentence, write down those words because you never know what could get you marks.

Written exam breakdown

This exam consists of 2 sections: Section 1 (compréhension écrite) and Section 2 (production écrite). Let's have a closer look: 

There are two comprehensions to do (each worth 60 marks) and you must answer every question from both comprehensions. The first comprehension is usually an article or an interview and the second one is usually an extract from a story. In both cases, your job is straightforward: answer the questions using words from the text. Here's some useful information and advice for approaching this section:

Look for clues

Usually, there will be clues in the questions asked. For example, the word in the question can often be found in a sentence in the given paragraph so you know immediately where to look for your answer.

Common question words

The questions are in French so make sure you know what the question terms commonly used mean. For example, know the meaning of words like ‘relevez’, ‘trouvez’, ‘pourquoi’, ‘oú’, ‘citez’, etc. 

Don't just quote from the text

Sometimes, merely quoting the text word for word isn’t enough so I would recommend being able to manipulate and change sentences to suit the question asked. For example, let’s say the text is an interview with Marie, a girl who is moving house. The question asks why Marie wasn’t to move house but if the text has Marie’s answer in first person, e.g. "je veux démenager car je n’aime pas mes voisins" (I want to move because I don’t like my neighbours) for example, then you can’t quote that because it’s not answering the question correctly. Instead, you should change the sentence into answer form by saying "car elle n’aime pas ses voisins (because she doesn’t like her neighbours).

Grammar points

One question in each comprehension nearly always asks for you to find a grammar point within the text. For example "Trouvez un adjective feminine dans la quatrième section" (find a feminine adjective in the 4th section). This is very much like in the Irish comprehensions and the same goes for studying for it. Pretty much the only way around it is just to know and learn off all the different grammar points and know what to look for with each one. For example, if they ask for an adjective, more often than not it will appear after a noun or if they’re looking for an adverb, you’ll know to look for a word ending in ‘ment’.

The last question

The last question in the comprehensions is one which you must answer in English/French and usually you must give your opinion of the character/topic/text or whether the topic/character was good/bad/clever, etc. These are easy marks to get once you understand the text and know what they’re looking for. The marking scheme is usually quite broad for this question and almost any answer is correct (so long as it makes some sense and relates to the text). Make sure you reference the text in your answer to show you understood it. Quoting the text can also help.

Learning little tips and tricks for recognising the grammar points will help a lot. I recommend setting aside a day or evening of French study to focus on this alone as it’s a guaranteed question.

This section is worth 100 marks overall and you must do a total of 3 essays. Here's what you need to know:

There are four sub-sections within this section and each sub-section has two essay titles or prompts to choose from.

You can only do one essay from each sub-section, e.g. within Q.3, you can’t do (a) and (b).

Question 1 is obligatory so you must do one of the options within that question and it’s worth 40 marks.

Then, you need only choose 2 questions from Q.2, Q.3 or Q.4, each worth 30 marks.

You’ll need to write a bit more for Question 1. They say about 90 words but in reality, if you want to get high marks you’ll write more than that. That being said, don’t overdo it either. If you start writing out extra sentences just for the sake of it, there’s a chance you could make a mistake and lose marks. So, if you’re writing something extra but you’re unsure of a spelling/grammar point, I would advise you to leave it if it’s not essential to the essay.

Short story (récit)

An option for Question 1 is often the récit. This is where you can write a short story (real or imaginary) on the topic given. If you choose to do one, it’s important that you know the typical sentences that are used in short stories, such as:

Tout d’un coup = all of a sudden

Je venais de… = I had just...

It’s also important that you write emotionally for the récit as the prompt usually asks for your recollection of a moment in time or a situation you were in so you need to know different emotions in French to describe your feelings in that moment, for example:

Ma coeur battait très vite = my heart beat very fast

J’étais fou de joie = I was overjoyed

Je n’en croyais pas mes yeux = I couldn’t believe my eyes

Finally, if you’re doing the récit, it’s essential that you know the difference between the imparfait and the passé composé. When writing the récit, people often use the imperfect tense a lot because they are describing a continuous action in the past (this is the imparfait and the past tense is a singular action). It’s therefore essential that you know when to use what tense.

Sometimes, another option for Question 1 is a letter which you must write. They usually give about 5 or 6 points which you must mention in the letter. Some people choose this option because it seems easy and all laid out for you but to be honest, it’s actually one of the hardest options you can choose. They tend to catch people out by throwing in a hard point that students might not know how to phrase or might not know the vocabulary for. So, unless you’re very confident and know that you could write something on each point, I would steer clear of it.

Questions 2-4

As far as questions 2, 3 and 4 go, they’re all generally the same in terms of layout. You should write about a page on whatever topic is given. A wide range of topics can come up so it’s hard to be fully prepared for this section. I would recommend knowing what’s in the news the year you’re doing your Leaving Cert so you know what could come up in terms of current events. The following themes are always good to have studied and prepared because they often come up: 

Unemployment

Try to have a wide range of vocabulary that could suit different topics so that if something comes up that you haven’t studied for, you can still write a good essay. 

Useful information

Here's some more advice for this section:

Learn some useful phrases

Have general phrases learned off and prepared that could suit any essay. I had many different sentences like "il ne se passe pas une journée sans que..." (a day doesn’t go by that...) and "il va sans dire que" (it goes without saying that...) learned to fill any essay that I didn’t know that much about.

Agree/disagree

A lot of your essays may need to start with you agreeing or disagreeing with a statement given so I recommend you learn off different ways of saying that you agree/disagree such as "Je suis tout à fait d’accord avec cette déclaration" (I am in total agreement with this statement) or "On ne peut pas nier que..." (one cannot deny that...), etc.

Read questions carefully

It’s essential that you read and understand fully the question/statement/prompt because if you write an essay on something irrelevant or if you skip a certain part of the question, you’ll lose a lot of marks.

Use proverbs

Finally, if you want top marks and want to show the examiner that you have a high standard of French, I recommend learning some French proverbs to put at the end of your essays. For example, "Paris ne s’est pas fait en un jour" (Paris wasn’t built in a day) or "Qui vivra verra" (time will tell). Make sure it suits the essay though, otherwise, it will make no sense.

The subjunctive

Another thing that would show off your French competency is the subjunctive. It’s very difficult but if you can get a grasp on it, it shows that you have a high standard of French. What I did was, I had several general phrases with the subjunctive in them learned off so I could use it in almost any of my essays. For example, "il faut que le gouvernement fasse…" (it’s necessary that the government makes/does...) or "il est imperatif que nous soyons" (it’s imperative that we are/be...), etc. Of course, you need to know how it works properly to be able to use it so if you choose to tackle it, learn when, why and how it’s used.

If you feel you’re struggling with French or even if you just want to improve or practice it, I recommend downloading the app Duolingo. It’s free and there are different levels for you to complete. I found it helpful when studying French because it was fun, easy and it kept me up to date with my practice so my grammar never went rusty. Plus, it’s a source of handy vocabulary that you might not get in school.

Immerse yourself in French

Another big help for me, especially for the oral and aural exams, was listening to French radio, watching French TV and reading French books. Listening to the radio will accustom your ears to the French language and you can pick out words easier in the aural exam. You can download an app called TuneInRadio that lets you listen to any radio station in the world so you have many French stations to choose from. You can download French books off iBooks if you have an Apple phone and there are many French books in libraries across the country too. Reading books will help you interpret the comprehensions better and will improve and widen your range of vocabulary.

Be organised

Finally, organisation is key. It’s hard enough to learn a new language without having your notes completely scattered and messed up. Try to organise a French folder that has different sections for oral, aural and written work. This will make life easier when you’re studying later on.

Some final tips

for Leaving Certificate French.

Hope these help - happy studying!

Best of luck! You'll be great.

Want more tips on how to get a H1 in French? Check out Gabrielle's advice below:

Having spent previous years contributing to content creation, sales and communications, Eimear now manages the customer support and communication teams. Her enthusiasm for culture, travel and languages means she's lived in France, Germany and Scotland to date, and her favourite thing to do is try new food.